Forever Never Ends
by Azurite
Summary: Submission for the SMRFF's June 2003 Lyric Wheel: She doesn't know about the world beyond the walls that surround her, but she wants to learn, wants to escape...


**Forever Never Ends**  
**Version:** 0.1 (Fixed formatting, Author's Notes, broken links, spelling)  
**Edited:** August 18, 2011

**A Sailormoon Fanfiction **  
**By:** Azurite– azurite AT seventh-star DOT net  
**Site:** seventh-star DOT net

Written for the June 2003 Lyric Wheel'A Sorta Kind of Fairy Tale' at the Sailor Moon Romantic Fanfiction Mailing List (SMRFF).

* * *

**Author's Notes: **Nyo-ho! It's been a long time since I wrote an SM fic, but hopefully with all the SMStars I watched, I can produce something original and interesting for this oh-so-wonderful Lyric Wheel, hosted by the SMRFF! Although, this doesn't take place during or even after Stars…it takes place in the Silver Millennium. So how's that for inspiring?

No, I do not own Sailormoon, nor the bishounen (we all have clones, but that's different I tell you, different!), but I do own this story line!

I got inspired for this not long before the original deadline of the Lyric Wheel (May 30th, I think it was?) And I'm finally writing it now about 30 MINUTES from the deadline (June 7th) AAH! I guess I'm one of those creative-under-pressure types.

The lyrics in question are Queen's "Who Wants to Live Forever," but I'm sure you would have recognized them without me saying so, right?

* * *

Princess Serenity was, for lack of a better word, curious. It was written in the stars that she be as such; it was part of her destiny.

It would bring about her ultimate happiness…and her total destruction.

* * *

_There's no time for us_

* * *

The Princess always felt out of place during those delegate meetings her mother forced her to go to. More often than not, poor Serenity would end up falling asleep as nobles and court officials droned on about one thing or another.

While Serenity was indeed a curious girl, always eager to learn, one could not hold her attention for long. It was for this reason that she was also considered flippant and fickle.

Originally, the Princess had been quite the sought-after girl, with potential suitors flooding in from around the galaxy. Yet in recent months, the number of suitors–and Serenity's ability to play games and tricks on them–dwindled. She was bored quite often now, and could find no amusement anywhere else.

* * *

_There's no place for us_

* * *

What Serenity wanted more than anything was to explore the outside world, to go beyond the established borders and perimeters of the Moon Palace. She wasn't stupid though–she knew full well that their palace was a gigantic illusion, one thick layer overlapping another, magic chaining magic to magic. Beyond the Moon Palace was desolation, grayness, and evil.

So she'd been told.

Yet Serenity told herself–she wasn't afraid. She was the Princess of the Moon Kingdom, Princess Serenity IV…nothing could stop her.

And so one day, Serenity dared to put action to her thoughts. She snuck away from another meeting of royal delegates and to a forbidden, dark part of the palace that her shining crystal blue eyes had never seen before.

And in doing so, she sealed fate.

* * *

_What is this thing that builds our dreams_

* * *

Her curiosity of the outside world had always existed, but never to the degree that she dared to go to so much trouble to pursue it.

Until now.

The meetings of royal delegates always bored her, only slips and fractions of the words the officials said even making it into the Princess' hearing.

Snippets about the other planets, other kingdoms, other…Then the nobles and delegates turned into utter drones, and Serenity heard them no more. Her head raced with questions–what about the other planets? What was so special about them anyway? Wasn't the Moon the center of the universe, the bright spot that protected and nourished everyone?

Of course, Serenity knew of the existence of her Guardian Planets– Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, and Mars. Not that far from her own home, these stars were residence to her own special band of warriors, the Sailor Senshi. The girls were really Princesses of their respective planets, but as of late, they hadn't changed out of their transformed Senshi state. Serenity could feel it in her bones, in a part of her that couldn't be seen or named, when they transformed and detransformed, and that tingling feeling remained inside her, had been that way for months now.

In place of her giggling group of friends, Princesses to whom she could relate her secret hopes and desires, were soldiers of secrecy. They had no time for Princess Serenity anymore, and trying to bury her inner sadness, she sought to discover what pulled them away from her.

* * *

_Yet slips away from us?_

* * *

Princess Serenity spent hours holed up in her Royal Chambers, wishing for something–anything–exciting to happen to her and her alone. Adventure, romance…! But again, she wasn't foolish, and knew that such things didn't come out of thin air; one had to seek them out.

Mother had always told her that she was too headstrong for her own good, and one day her curiosity would be the end of her. Then the Queen had always laughed in that light, tinkling way she had, and Serenity brushed off her words like so much dust on her dresser.

Had Princess Serenity IV heeded her mother's words, perhaps time itself would be different.

For you see, the one behind the destruction of the Moon Kingdom –if one were to pin blame on a sole person–is none other than her Royal Highness, Princess Serenity IV herself.

* * *

_Who wants to live forever?_

* * *

As the months since Serenity's curiosity was first piqued wore on, she continued to ask a multitude of questions. The nobles thought for a while that she was truly interested in the workings of the kingdom that was one day meant to be hers. However, once her question had been answered, the Princess' curiosity momentarily satiated, she resumed staring off into space, a strange expression becoming her pretty face.

Questions like: What is beyond the Great Barrier of the Palace? Why is it so necessary for us to protect so many planets? Why have not the Senshi returned to the Palace for a meeting of such dire importance as this? Why is transport to Earth forbidden, when it damages trade so? What is happening on Earth? Are we going to war?

No one could ever answer these questions to the complete detail that Serenity desired–not a single person. Even Serenity's mother tended to be vague and tight-lipped about such matters. And if the Senshi weren't around to try and temper the girl's persistent curiosity, that meant it only layered onto itself– to the point where she felt compelled to take action, to do something and discover the answers herself.

* * *

_Who wants to live forever?_

* * *

Serenity heard what she wanted to hear, but she wasn't blind to reality. The fact of the matter was, other people were shielding her from what she considered 'The Real World,' and as such, she couldn't be the Queen everyone hoped her to be one day. At least, that's what she told herself. It was her justification for her actions, even when she knew in her heart of hearts that she was breaking rules, and that innocent people would get hurt, maybe even killed.

But she couldn't go on any longer not knowing what was going on just beyond her front door.

One day during a Royal Delegation meeting, Serenity slipped out and beyond her allowed territory–into the long black hall always marked forbidden to her.

Yet her power was innate and untamed–exuding from her like a bright light only a select few were blessed to see. She couldn't control her feelings most of the time, and as a result, her powers fluctuated right along with her. And now, her sheer determination powered her, lit up the hallway until she found the dank, tiny room she'd been looking for much longer than Princess Serenity realized.

She pushed the heavy door open, and within the blackness was a single pillar of shining blue light in an empty room.

A beacon to Earth.

* * *

_There's no chance for us_

* * *

The Princess believed that she spent most of her life in a dream. All her life, she'd been told stories of far-away places with unhappy girls, trapped girls, slave girls who'd had to be rescued from the clutches of evil by some handsome, dashing prince. Such stories hadn't made her more enamored of the male gender, but they had piqued her curiosity even more. In her world, evildoers like in the stories didn't exist. At least, not that she knew about.

In her world, everything was perfect, and she–Princess Serenity IV–was living the life that those fairy tale girls could only dream of.

Her entire life had been **their** single happy ending, and it seemed as there was no end to her world.

Always there were lavish banquets and masquerades, stunning parties and ceremonies, rich food and delicate jewels. She wanted for nothing-  
except to get away from it all.

At sixteen, the Princess wanted nothing more to be the 'damsel in distress,' or at least the girl that got herself out of her trappings and into the real world, where she experienced life. Once said heroine had gotten her fill, Serenity believed, it was just a matter of a handsome man rescuing her from certain peril and taking her back home.

Where she…belonged?

This was where Serenity's confusion began. She was **supposed** to stay in the Moon Kingdom, supposed to be **happy** there–but she wasn't.

She was never satisfied by the banquets–there was always too **much** food–and the masquerades were so tiring after a time. The 'stunning parties,' like the masquerades, tended to drag on, and Serenity was always pressured into dancing with one ugly noble or some rude suitor. At every one of those events, she wanted nothing more than to slip out into the cool night air of the balcony and stare at the worlds beyond–at the great, blue Earth.

Adventure, Serenity believed, started there.

* * *

_It's all decided for us_

* * *

The Princess was chained down by her own happiness, it was said. Every girl was like that. Demure noble girls simply did NOT exist in this day  
and age–they'd all been around ages ago, and now the royal courts were filled with girls difficult to control and even harder to marry.

There was the fiery Princess of Mars, who seemed to have a passion for witty sarcasm and harsh arguments.

There was the strong, almost brutish Princess of Jupiter, who would rather go horseback riding than brush her hair.

There was the **almost** demure Princess of Mercury–she was the closest thing nobles these days imagined a true princess should be like. But perhaps she was too demure, as she was often buried in her books, dismissing potential suitors in search for more knowledge.

And the Princess of Venus–oh, she couldn't be held down! In many ways, she resembled her dear charge, the Princess Serenity IV. After all, she was curious, and tended to lose her interest in something after only a short while. She was also very absorbed in herself and her beauty, and never seemed to take much interest in the idea of being married to anyone other than herself.

And then there was Serenity herself. Always curious, headstrong, flitting about from one interest to the next…for every quality she had, there was a darker side to it, one that would undoubtedly cause trouble.

So nobles weaned their sons away from the Princesses of the Inner Ring, encouraged them to seek girls they would **truly** be happy with…and the girls were left alone, with Fate deciding what would become of them day by day.

* * *

_This world has only one sweet moment set aside for us_

* * *

Serenity shucked her ivory-colored dress, decorated with its shining pearls and moonstones. She removed her precious alexandrite hair pins, and undid her golden spirals of hair.

She shoved her belongings into a simple brown cloth she'd found in the Laundry, tying it together with a golden hair ribbon. Her new outfit–a scrap job thrown together hastily with Serenity's clumsy hand–was a simple brown ribbons braided in her twin pigtails, one wrapping around her forehead to mask her crescent insignia.

She was ready. Determined this time, and doing something about her curiosity. Now her questions would be answered, now her curiosity would be satisfied–now she would begin to live life, the way she was meant to, the way the stories said she would.

She wasn't abandoning anyone, like those little screaming voices in her head insisted she was. She was escaping, escaping from a life she wasn't meant to live. She wasn't happy like this, and the more she told that to herself, the more her shining palace resembled a dungeon.

All her happy memories, all her precious friends–she was leaving them behind, but for a brighter, better purpose. She was going out into the real world to see what she was really meant to do.

After all, Serenity thought with a satisfied smirk, how could she have gotten here otherwise, unless this was all meant to happen?

* * *

_Who wants to live forever?_

* * *

The woman shrouded in darkness–the woman who would, unlike the free-spirited Serenity, never see the light of Earth, nor any other outside world–turned away, walking back down into the dark hall from whence she came. The Princess's –Fate, Destiny, or whatever it was called– was sealed. There was no changing what was Meant To Be, what the Powers dictated had to happen.

It was a sad truth, but an inevitable one.

Serenity did not realize that she wasn't immortal–that, despite her powers and influence at home, she wouldn't be taken for more than a trifle girl anywhere else. She had to learn this–and all the other realities–on her own.

Alone.

Garnet eyes sparkled in the darkness, a lone tear sliding down a tan face as the woman disappeared.

* * *

_Who dares to love forever_

* * *

When Serenity stepped into the Light Pillar, she immediately felt the change. Lighter, almost as if she were floating–every single part of her tingling, resonating in time with a song that had no source. The dark room that surrounded the Pillar came apart, particle by particle, the blackness vanishing as Serenity felt herself pulled away–up–and away…When she came to, she was lying on the rough, dusty ground. Her first thought was that she had made it–and now the moon was what hung luminously above her.

She was free!

In sheer adulation, Serenity grabbed a handful of the dusty soil and threw it up in the air, rubbing it on her face. She didn't have **dirt** on the moon–everything there was artificial and fake–their flowers and grass always seemed to grow out of thin air.

There was never a spot of anything dirty–not where Serenity's eyes could see it anyway. And now…and now!

Serenity was practically rolling in the stuff when she heard a loud **boom**–the likes of which she'd never heard before. She looked up, startled, and paled considerably when a sudden thundering–the sound of an army of soldiers on horseback–came towards her at breakneck speed.

The figure in the lead, still shadowed from the Princess' gaze since the sun was directly behind him, yelled at the girl fallen over on the ground as he came ever closer.

"Get out of the way, girl!"

It took Serenity a moment to process the words–with a sudden thought, she realized that he hadn't been speaking **her** language, yet she'd understood him nonetheless. Still, she had no time to think about such details as the horses came ever closer, threatening to break her bones into splinters.

Serenity screamed, frozen in place and unable to move. Out of instinct, she threw her arms over her head and tried to block whatever would come her way. When the seemingly inevitable doom of being crushed under an army of horses hooves didn't happen, Serenity opened one blue eye, then the other.

The 'army of soldiers' that had been thundering towards her was, in fact, five men, and they'd all reared their horses at the last possible moment and all–horses and men alike–were panting out of sheer exhaustion.

"WHAT…" the lead soldier asked, tossing back his helmet, "Are you doing in the middle of the r–" Serenity met the young man's gaze straight on, her expression a mixture of indignation and insecurity.

The young man, ebony-haired and blue-eyed much like Serenity herself, fell silent, staring at Serenity oddly. After a while, the Princess grew uncomfortable with the soldier's stare, and moved to get up.

"Let me help you." One of the soldiers removed his helmet as he slid off his dapple gray steed, revealing a head of shining silvery-white hair and icy blue eyes.

"T-Thank you," Serenity murmured. She wasn't sure what else to say to these strangers; she surely couldn't tell them why she'd just been rolling in the dirt, or why she was lying in the middle of the road.

The whole point in coming here was to start fresh, to start new, to experience real life as she never could back on the moon. That meant giving up who she was–even if it was the most difficult thing she'd ever undertake.

"What are you doing out here, girl?" another of the men asked, this one with short blonde hair and piercing green eyes. He chose to remain seated on his stallion, a charcoal gray creature with deep brown eyes.

"Uh, I…was just out for a walk…" Serenity mumbled. She still felt the dark-haired boy's gaze on her, and wasn't sure what she was doing that attracted his attention so. Like all the other suitors Serenity had stare at her before, this one's gaze was just as unwelcome. Or at least, uncomfortable.

"What? But we ordered the evacuation of this area a week ago!" the dark-haired one protested, his eyes widening in shock.

"Uh, Your Highness…" Another soldier, this one with long, brown hair began, casting an unsure gaze at the girl below him.

_'Your Highness!'_ Serenity thought, her eyes widening. Was it possible they– no wait. She realized that the soldier had been addressing his companion–the dark-haired one that had yelled at her, and stared at her.

Was he…?

"Prince Endymion," another soldier, this one with long blonde hair pulled back into a ponytail spoke, "It is possible that this girl is from the farther reaches of the countryside, and her family didn't receive the message until recently."

He looked around as if to affirm his answer, but as Serenity was alone, with only her simple rucksack, his gaze turned confused.

"Where is your family, and your belongings…?" he asked, looking around.

"Uh…" Serenity looked down somewhat shamefully, realizing she still wore her court slippers. Only now they were covered in dirt, the slight pearl and silk ribbon soiled beyond repair. Well, it would be of no harm.

"This is all I have," She murmured, holding up her rucksack. And since she was alone in the clearing, she also thought it fitting to clear her throat and point out once and for all–"And I'm alone."

"WHAT!" the men all chorused in a yell. Their eyes were all as wide as saucers as Serenity hugged her bag close to her, averting her gaze from their unrelenting ones.

She was promptly bombarded with questions, like "What are you doing out here all by yourself!" and "How in the world could you have made it without any sort of protection or weapons?"

It was the words of the dark-haired boy that caught her attention, however:

"It's amazing you haven't been killed by the demons yet."

"D-Demons!" It was Serenity's eyes that bulged now, and she started to look around nervously, as if a slimy, fanged demon would spring from the trees around her at any moment.

"Good Gaia, child," the silver-haired one spoke, coming closer, "You must be from the most rural parts of the kingdom. But we don't have time to dispense with stories and legends, you must come with us back to Elysion."

"E...lysion?" Serenity murmured, the name striking an odd chord in her. A magical name?

"Our kingdom–where the palace lies. You will be safest there. Come." The brunette proffered his hand from his steed and hoisted Serenity, rucksack and all, in front of him onto his horse.

The ebony-haired soldier–Endymion, he'd been called–was still looking at Serenity somewhat oddly when she got on the brunette's horse.

"Nephrite, are you sure that's…" The blonde one with a ponytail stared as Nephrite's infamous steed, Bolt, calmed the moment the girl got on his back. Not even Nephrite could control Bolt at times, and yet…

_'Must be good with animals or something.'_ Zoisite thought. There was a nagging suspicious that there was Something Else, but whatever It was, Zoisite couldn't place it. But now, darkness was falling, and they had to be getting back to Elysion.

"Let's go. Hyah!" Endymion urged his horse forward, and the five soldiers–now accompanied by a dirty princess–rode off into the sunset.

* * *

_When love must die?_

* * *

Two women–separated by millions of miles and time itself–stared into a reflective surface. One's garnet eyes stared back solemnly from a mirror, while the other's yellow-red gaze fell upon a pool of an odd-colored liquid.

Yet within the refections were more than just their own faces–there was the face of a young girl with bright blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. Though her face was smeared with soil and dust, she was still beautiful, and even her ragged-like clothes betrayed her true nature.

"NO! She was supposed to stay on the Moon…!" the yellow-red eyed woman hissed, walking away from the pool stiffly. Her minions on the Moon had obviously failed. The Moon brat was too much of a free spirit, and could be the sole reason why her great plans might fail–but she would not let that happen.

Garnet eyes narrowed sadly, turning away from the mirror as it darkened into blackness once more. She knew what Destiny the Princess held, what her future would bring. This and only this was written in stone, and it was the only part of her job that she dreaded.

Beryl, former noble lady of the Terran court in Elysion…and Pluto, Guardian of the Space-Time Continuum. Both women saw destinies, both wished in their heart of hearts to change them. Yet neither could. The only one who could change fate itself, to change the course of when one lived, loved, and died…was the Princess who was a Princess no longer.

* * *

It was many hours later when the party of soldiers arrived back at Elysion, promptly greeted by well-dressed servants that started to attend to the horses and help the soldiers with their armor.

"Your Majesty, who…" a particularly snooty servant, probably the head of the younger stable boys, asked, eyeing Serenity with disgust plain in his eyes.

Before Endymion could snap at the servant for his rudeness, Serenity slid off Nephrite's steed gracefully, her head held high and her stride purposeful.

"You will address me properly as is expected of someone of your position, young man. I am Princess Serenity IV of the Lunar Kingdom, here on a diplomatic mission to see the Prince. You will treat me with respect regardless of how I appear!"

Serenity's manner and attitude were so perfectly executed that all present, including the stable boys, had their mouths hanging open in shock. Most especially surprised was Endymion, who took a moment to eye Serenity up and down, as if to make sure she was all there.

Once the servant mumbled an apology and rushed off, Serenity broke into a fit of giggles. They all headed toward the palace, though each of the five men spent the walk staring at Serenity in a mix of wonder and confusion.

"That was…that was a joke, right?" Zoisite spoke first, running a hand nervously through his wavy golden locks. His eyes darted about nervously, catching the equally anxious stares of his friends.

Serenity looked down, her expression turning pensive and upset. In truth, she hadn't meant to reveal her identity, but she saw no harm in putting a rude servant in his place. She supposed, after a moment's thought, that if Endymion truly was the Prince, then there was no better person to tell her everything there was to know about Earth and whatever this current 'situation' with demons and the Moon Kingdom was.

The pieces didn't fit–back at home, all they'd talked about was danger, the alliance on the brink of war, and demonic creatures coming from Earth…

And here…? The demons were attacking Terrans? What did any of this have to do with the Alliance of Planets, with home?

Well, **former** home.

"No," Serenity said softly. She made a brief effort to scrub her face clean, but she only succeeded in reddening her face further. "I've not once lied to you; you fellows have never asked me who I was or where I came from. I thank you though, for taking me out of what was a potentially dangerous area."

Endymion pursed his lips, pausing in step. It was apparent he was deep in thought, and that Serenity was the one on his mind, but what to say to her? Did this little slip of a girl even have any idea…!

"I think it's time we have some introductions then," Nephrite said, glancing away from the slackened jaw of his master and back at the mysterious newcomer Princess. The gaze he fixed on Serenity somewhat chilling.

Serenity had the sudden impression from Nephrite that he'd **known** all along that she wasn't an ordinary country girl. Was such knowledge even possible among humans? Could they, too, be gifted with magical abilities, much as the people of the Moon and its guardian planets were? Who was he–who were all of these men, exactly?

"I am Nephrite, fourth soldier of the Elysion Prince's Private Guard. Beside me is Zoisite, third soldier of the Guard, while our fellow officers are Jadeite, second soldier, and our leader, Kunzite, the first guard. And you know…Prince Endymion, sovereign of the Elysion Kingdom and all of the Terran-Earth lands…" At this point Nephrite trailed off.

Introductions between royal leaders were usually much more formal–the setting, the time, the circumstances…Normally, both individuals were fully clothed and clean, as well. Nephrite swallowed, knowing what was to become of this 'introduction.'

They entered a part of the palace abandoned by servants; the great marble hallways were lit with cylindrical lanterns flickering with candlelight, affixed to white-and-charcoal striped pillars lining the hall.

They stopped at a large oak doorway, Endymion pausing only momentarily to draw a key from his side and inserting it into the shining lock. When the great doors swung open, a dark room with deep red wood furniture was revealed to the hall's light. They all walked in silently, seating themselves without confusion, except for on Serenity's part.

She stood in the doorway even after Kunzite closed it after her, unsure what to do or say. For the first time in her life, she didn't know **what** was going to happen to her. Darkness had fallen around the palace, and silence pervaded this room until it stifled her completely.

Was this what it meant to be free? To be afraid, unsure…? Perhaps this wasn't what she wanted. But it wasn't as if she could just snap her fingers and go back–make everything the way it had been. And in truth, would she want to? Would she want to go back to that?

"You truly are the Princess…" Kunzite glanced upwards out a nearby window, glancing at the moon hanging low in the evening sky, "of the Moon?"

"Yes. Princess Serenity IV," Serenity stated, removing the cloth strip that covered the insignia on her brow.

Perhaps if her answers were short and simple they wouldn't decide to interrogate her. How would she be able to tell them that she'd simply run away from home? That **was **what she'd done, after all, wasn't it? Not gone on any sort of a 'diplomatic mission,' like she'd said to that sniveling servant, but she'd run away–run away because she was afraid of the things she'd heard the nobles saying–afraid that her world, fairy tale or no, would be taken from her.

And here she hadn't **done** anything. There was nothing to make her great, nothing to separate her from any ordinary palace servant. At least the fairy tale princesses had experienced life, had adventures, had their name and their purpose spread like legends throughout the land. What had she done? Rejected another suitor?

There was nothing special about Serenity–nothing that she could see in herself, anyway. What everyone else saw–what her guardians, what the four Elysion Private Guards saw, what Endymion saw–was that she had a beautiful aura, a magic light surrounding her that made everything in a time of war and turmoil seem even just a little better. More peaceful, even.

But that didn't make the war–didn't make the death, destruction, poverty, and sickness disappear.

* * *

_But touch my tears with your lips_

* * *

Hours later, Serenity had told her story. How she had grown bored of the palace life, always so confining and repetitive. Instead of the chastising lecture she expected, she got a round of hearty laughs and–an **embarrassed** blush?–from Endymion.

Zoisite explained that Endymion had felt that same way not long ago, and ended up getting himself into a world of trouble. But now, with the war imminent, palace life was anything but boring.

She was a runaway, and she had to admit that it was no diplomatic mission she was on. Her curiosity begged to be satiated–she wanted to know all there was about the blue planet, about the forbidden world that was so carefully protected–yet hated–by her people. And now…And now she was here, in the same room with Endymion, only now they were alone. Two royals, noble blood, unsure what to do or say to one another.

To him, she was unlike any other girl he'd ever met before–royal or otherwise, and perhaps it had something to do with her alien blood. But she was more than just an ethereal, legendary Princess–she was a flesh and blood girl who'd experienced many of the same emotions **he** had.

He couldn't send her back to the Moon knowing that–that was, assuming there was even a way to send her back in the first place.

But then, could he really keep her here? She didn't even know that a war between planets was about to break out, and it was very nearly a war of survival to begin with, here on Earth.

He couldn't send her back–she had to stay here. She had to.

A sudden noise broke Endymion out of his serious musings–a slight, shrilling gasp. His sapphire gaze met with the trembling form of Serenity, her head in her hands as she sobbed out her greatest fears.

The soldiers had told her that there was a war about to break out–that whether she was on the Moon or Earth, she wouldn't be entirely safe anymore. Everything that the court dignitaries and nobles back home had tried to hide from her, the Private Guard told her bluntly to Serenity's face.

Most of it didn't sink in–after all, one has to see to believe–but that didn't change the fact that Serenity was quickly becoming overwhelmed with the strong sensation that this was no fairy tale, no story with a guaranteed happy ending.

People would die.

Because of her? Because of her ignorance? Nephrite had told her that Terrans–the people of Earth–were not fond of Lunarians. That they believed that the demons coursing the Earth and murdering innocent people were sent by the people of the Moon.

Serenity had cried out that it wasn't true, but Zoisite had asked her with perfect calm whether she could really know that. And she'd been forced to fall silent in the face of his words.

How **could** she know? She spent so long holed up in her own little imaginary world while her own friends, her own mother even, were fighting off forces of evil unlike anything those of the Silver Millennium had encountered before.

And she kept on wearing her pretty dresses and admiring her shining jewelry. So jaded, the Princess of the Moon.

Perhaps if she hadn't thought so selfishly–thought of getting away, running away, getting her answers and her happy ending, her adventure and her Prince in disguise…maybe then she wouldn't have just **listened** to the nobles in court, she would have **heard** them. Understood them, talked back to them.

If the Princess lent her power, lent her belief, lent her hope in the people of the Alliance—to everyone on every planet—maybe then the situation wouldn't have been so desperate.

Maybe.

* * *

_Touch my warmth with your fingertips_

* * *

"Serenity…" Endymion crouched below the sobbing, distraught girl, unsure what to do. He'd always been so self-involved in his own world–never looking beyond the palace walls, even though he longed to see the world out there.

There was always something to amuse him back at home, in Elysion. Contests, riding, archery, swordsmanship, magic…

The world beyond, the one he was supposedly so deeply interconnected with, the one he was bound to love and protect all his years…it was a tempting place, strong yet fragile–and just out of his reach.

Endymion, like Serenity, was destined to protect the planet without ever experiencing it, without ever being part of it. They were distanced from all life and true feeling, as royals, as pure blood.

Yet maybe some of that true feeling–what everyone felt at one time or another–seeped through him at this moment.

And he reached out a hand and brushed away the tears sliding down the Princess' cheek. She sniffled loudly once, her head rising slowly. Bloodshot, yet still shining blue eyes met Endymion's gaze, and the two saw something in one another that they never had before.

Hope?

Or something else?

Serenity's tears subsided, yet Endymion kept his palm pressed to her damp cheek. She didn't see any pity or sympathy in his eyes, there wasn't any lusting desire hidden underneath the blue depths. What she saw was plain and simple purity there–he was feeling something very real at that moment, and maybe, just maybe he'd act on it–

Before he truly comprehended what he was doing, his lips were on hers, a soft pressure and a gentle warmth. Her eyes closed, a single tear sliding out of her right eye as she pressed her own lips back into his.

She couldn't deny the same thing she'd been feeling–that same purity, rightness, and maybe just a flickering of desire. This was what she had been searching for–not spoken answers, not material objects, not adventure in the form of demon killing.

This–and only this–was what she had been waiting for, all these years. Before she even **wanted** to run away from home, before she even thought about getting answers to her questions, she remembered wishing that she was the one in those fairy tales, she was the one living the adventure, the legend, the story…and she would be rescued, and her name would live on in history forever and ever.

* * *

_And we can have forever_

* * *

And everything she'd chosen to ignore, all the words of the nobles, all their worries and fears about their happiness being destroyed–well,  
now she had hope. For herself, for them.

She wouldn't just lie back and let demons take over an innocent planet, whether its people hated her or not. She wouldn't let everyone think  
she was some crystal doll meant to be shut out, shut away from the reality of the world.

She would go back.

* * *

_And we can love forever_

* * *

Mere weeks later, it was Serenity at home in her palace, and Endymion the alien one. They stood together on the Starlit Terrace in the Moon Palace, overlooking a spectacular view of the Earth rising over the Western Gardens.

_'Perhaps all this will be gone in a day,'_ Serenity thought, wondering why such ideas didn't sadden her, _'But perhaps not. Perhaps, even if every flower in the garden withers and dies, it will be born again another day, in a distant spring.'_

_'I believe they will. Every flower, every person, every heart. No matter what anyone says, there is one thing that is eternal in this world.'_

She squeezed Endymion's hand gently, a simple silver band pressing into his wide palm. If they survived this week, they would be wed. And then the Alliance wouldn't have to worry about Earth being a threat anymore…and the Terrans would have Serenity to show them what Lunarians were truly like.

Beautiful, innocent, courageous, and hopeful.

* * *

_Forever is ours today_

* * *

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the poor little Princess, all dressed up–"

A bolt of dark magic struck the marble near Serenity's feet, exploding in chips around her and creating a tiny crater that smoked and sizzled.

Beryl–she had seen and known that this Princess would meet Endymion. She had seen and known it, and yet could do nothing to stop it, no matter how hard she or her minions tried.

Was this the one part of Destiny–of Fate–that could not be altered?

Nephrite had seen it as well, had not argued with it. Indeed, her meeting with Endymion signaled the end of an Era, the end of prosperity…but the beginning of something new.

Something that couldn't be explained in words, only seen, lived, experienced. Life was like that.

One didn't simply have one adventure in their life, get through a series of obstacles and then retire into a happy life. One's entire life was an adventure, a battle, a war. It was all one enormous challenge–to live, love, and experience as much as one could in a lifetime that seemed to have no ends.

But it all did have to end one day, because real life, the real world–reality itself–was not a dream, was not a story, was not a fairy tale.

Things didn't simply close with a happy ending.

There was always more. Life went on, and on, even after death, even after the ends of kingdoms and worlds.

* * *

_Who wants to live forever?  
Who wants to live forever?_

* * *

"Serenity!" Endymion yelled through the thickness of the destruction, trying to reach her through the melee. All around them, the palace was falling apart, darkness was rising, and people were dying.

It wasn't just "the way life was" anymore, with sickness and poverty, it was something unnatural trying to end things in its own way. Breaking any and all rules to get what it wanted.

"ENDY!" the Princess cried, reaching out for him.

But the self-titled Dark Queen would have none of it, and blasted the two apart even further this time. There was barely any life left on the moon, the barriers blown away, the gravity nearly destroyed.

This pathetic princess would not stop her from having what she desired!

* * *

_Forever is ours today_

* * *

"I will not let you destroy their future!" Queen Serenity cradled the Ginzuishou–the magical crystal, the heart, soul, and hope of so many people, their souls, their lives…. It glimmered with a pink shine.

Beryl turned to the light, to the sudden source of that Power she'd fought so relentlessly to destroy. NO! It couldn't be–surely Fate didn't say that after all her hard work, she was destined to be trapped!

An explosion of light rocked the system, taking all the soldiers, all the nobles, all the dignitaries, servants–everyone, even those whose hearts had been poisoned by darkness–and enclosed them in light. For them, one adventure had ended. Not with a happy ending, but…a new beginning might just herald such a thing for them all.

There would be more adventures.

More life.

More love.

* * *

_Who wants forever anyway?_


End file.
